A substantial number of proposed designs have attempted to solve the problems associated with simultaneously carrying food on a plate and a beverage container in one hand. For example, at parties, gatherings, socials, receptions and the like, it is commonplace to pass along a buffet with a plate in one hand and a beverage container in another hand. In order for an individual to serve food onto his or her plate, the plate or beverage container must be set down to free a hand for use in the serving process. Alternatively, attempts can be made to grasp both the plate and the beverage container in one hand. Obviously, if the plate and the beverage container are separate, great difficulty is encountered in attempting to balance the beverage container typically on the plate while serving food onto the plate. Similar problems occur when an individual attempts using a utensil to eat from the plate or to drink from the beverage container. Current designs of combined food plate and beverage holders fall considerably short of solving these problems.
For example, certain designs still require the individual to grasp both the beverage container and the plate with one hand, typically requiring the user to surround the beverage container with the thumb and forefinger, while holding the tray with the other portions of the same hand. Substantial manipulation of the individual's hand and fingers are required to remove the beverage container from its position between the thumb and forefinger, while at the same time balancing or attempting to balance the food on the plate. These changes in gripping the plate and beverage container, while simultaneously avoiding spillage are difficult at best and oftentimes result in spilled food and/or beverage.
On certain occasions, another problem presents itself in that stem glasses are typically used. Stem glasses are even more difficult to handle and manipulate due to the nature of the glass itself, i.e., a bowl at the top, a flat base at the bottom and a very thin stem interconnecting the bowl and base. Combined food plate and beverage-container-holder articles specifically accommodating stem glasses are known but inadequate. Certain designs accommodate stem glasses by securing the base of the stem glass to the food plate. Oftentimes, horizontal removal of the stem glasses from the plate is required, again necessitating the use of two hands in order to separate the stem glass from the food plate. Also, stem glasses are sometimes simply placed in a defined receptacle or simply an open area within the food plate body. By grasping the plate body, this more often than not results in spilling the contents of a stem glass or causing it to tip over. Further, those known combined food plate and beverage-container-holder articles do not accommodate different types of beverage containers, e.g., cans, bottles, stem glasses, cups and the like, and certain of such articles are designed for use with a particular type of beverage container, for example, a stem glass only. The nestability or stackability of the combined food plate and beverage-container-holder articles is also a highly desirable characteristic which often is not found in such prior articles due to the unique nature of the construction necessary to accommodate both the food plate and beverage container.